24-Hour Sourdough Loaf With Durum

I hope you did not think I was giving up with sourdough, did you? I mean… I have been posting a few gluten-free breads but this does not mean that I am going completely gluten-free. Yes, I am currently limiting the overall amount of wheat and gluten in my diet, also thanks to gluten-free breads and recipes, but I still eat some wheat and gluten, in controlled conditions. Controlled conditions? Well, being my own guinea pig in this, I dare having wheat and gluten only if I am the one who prepares the bread. Of course, I would not dare doing my experiments if I had celiac disease or severe gluten sensitivity. For you guys, more gluten-free posts are coming, no worries.

One of the most effective ways to properly prepare a wheat-based bread (listen, I am referring to people who do not have gluten sensitivities or, if so, only very mild ones – like me, yeah) is to make it with sourdough. However, to use the full potential of sourdough as a fermenting and soaking agent, the best is to allow for long rising times.

Inspired by my recent readings about ways to inactivate or limit the effect of the bad guys in grains (a highly informative and very easy article here) and by the recurrent recommendation to soak/ferment grains for at least 24 hours before using them, I made this durum wheat loaf, which was fermented with sourdough for exactly 24 hours. If you don’t have a sourdough starter and want some yummy yeast-based bread recipe with long fermentation, check out the recent posts by Stephanie from Hefe und Mehr.

One extra bonus in making this bread is that it really requires no time whatsoever from you (the sourdough does all the work) and can be done even during a busy working week. Oh… and I take the chance to THANK YOU. Both the regular readers and the occasional ones. Yesterday we hit 70,000 views since last June. And almost half of it happened in the last two months. Well, while I do have a lot of fun writing these posts, I admit it feels good to know that I am not just talking to myself but someone is actually reading Cheers to you for that! (and the Italian and Swedish versions are coming back soon, I am working on it!)

By the way… the bread came out great. A long fermentation is indeed good not only for our health but also for dough development and… can’t believe I managed to do this in the middle of my working week! (SCROLL DOWN FOR THE COMPLETE METHOD)24-H DURUM SOURDOUGH

400 g young liquid leaven*

480 g water

300 g durum wheat flour

150 g stone-ground organic all-purpose flour

350 g stone-ground organic bread flour

3 tea-spoon marine salt

Suggestion for bread lovers: get a scale.

*young liquid leaven:made with 30 grams of 100% hydration mature sourdough starter and 200 g water plus 200 g bread flour. If you want to start your own sourdough culture, this post can help you.

Day One, morning (before work, 7 am): combine the young leaven.

Day One, evening (after work, 6 pm): 1) combine the leaven and the water and add the flours and salt, already combined. Mix for 5-6 minutes by machine on low speed (or 7-8 minutes by hand). 2) Transfer in a plastic or ceramic (or glass) container and let rest covered for ca 180 minutes, folding twice at 30 and 60 minutes. 3) I shaped one large round (1 kg) and a medium-sized torpedo (600 g) and placed in heavily floured rising baskets, sealed into plastic bags. 4) Place in the fridge and let ferment there for 18 hours.

Day Two, evening (after work, 6 pm): 1) Take the loaves out of the fridge and let rest at room temperature for 3 hours, still sealed in the plastic bags. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to maximum heat. 2) Invert the dough on a heavily floured baker’s peel covered with parchment paper, score as you like, and transfer in the hot oven, on a hot baking dish or on a baking stone, making sure to create some steam (throwing a few ice cubes in a hot baking dish placed in the lower rack of the oven generally works). Reduce the temperature to 230 (Celsius, 446 Fahrenheit) and bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of the loaf). 3) Reduce further the temperature to 210 (Celsius, 410 Fahrenheit) degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes more. That’s it!

CONSIDERATIONS: Well, it is nice to do sourdough again and I always like to make bread with durum wheat. It has a special consistency to the palate and a lower glycemic index compared to regular wheat. The bread tasted super good and was unbelievably easy to prepare. Can’t wait to try longer fermentations and see if the digestibility and overall development of the dough will improve even further. Soon, I will also post on other “experiments” aimed to make wheat more tolerable, and of course I will continue to explore wheat-free alternatives.

Comments

As usual I am in love with your bread. That crust and crumb! I’m a big fan of the no-knead, long fermentation bread – my current recipe takes a 12 hour rest, but I’d like to try this. I can’t wait to read about your future experiments. Congrats on the readership – it seems obvious to me that lots of people would want to read your fantastic blog!

Well, this really does look great. And I totally agree with you on the logistics during the work week, the bread only gets better with all that resting time in between.
In Germany, we have types of flour according to numbers, so- is this flour you would use for a cake also, or with more fiber?

well, this is teh flour we use to make pasta, semola di grano duro. for bread we usually grind them very finely and then is called “rimacinata”. but I used the more coarsly ground one (as it was the only only one I had at hand!). ciao!!

Mmm.. I can imagine the smell in your house when you bake! The colour of all your bread looks amazing. You don’t need to buy any bread at all as nothing will taste as good as the one you make. Bravissima!

it is unfortunately true… here there is a strong revival of bakeries but have to admit even the most trendy ones make bread that is nowadays inedible for me (both because of my highly developed “bread tastebuds” and because it often makes me sick…). ciao!! (quand’e’ che mi “disegni” il website, il tuo e’ bellissimo!!!!)

I experimented with limiting gluten in my diet as well and I did so successfully but I still had some every now and then. Then I was told to completely eliminate it and boy, I did not enjoy this at all. Luckily tests revealed, I can go back to eating it every now and then. To celebrate this, I gave in to my cravings and had more than I should have… hahaha… Now I am slowly cutting back again so I am looking forward to your gluten free recipes

So I tride something along those lines and it turned out nicely- but, of course, I forgot to put away 50gr of sourdough for my next bread, and have to make a new start, again…. and my crumb turned out much more “fine” , no “big” holes like in your bread, Had the loaves rising for about 6 hours….

This is among my favorite recipes ever – and I just thought I’d let you know that the second two photos are broken links and cannot be displayed! It’s a shame because your photography is so gorgeous. ^_^

Also, I’d like to add – I LOVE the procedure for this recipe – the 24-hour schedule is exactly what anyone who has a busy life needs. It fits perfectly into my daily rhythm, so I have a lovely flowing supply of bread. I also like to do variations on this – sort of a French style country bread that is fermenting right now, with a Graham flour sponge (200g Saltå Grahamsmjöl instead of 200g brad flour), and replacing the 300g durum with Saltå Vetemjöl Special – next time I will do it with siktat dinkel. Anyways, I love this recipe and I love doing variations of it, fell in love the first time I did it with durum and made a lovely, yellow-blushed ‘pasta-like’, airy sourdough!! The texture was lovely and chewy!

What are the chances you’d do a series based on the 24-hour procedure? It helps the daily rhythm greatly! Much love! ^_^

thank you for the info on the photos Aiden, haven’t looked at this post in a while so I had no idea.
and thanks for letting me know about your experience with this loaf. and so good that it fits your schedule and that you tried different versions. playing with flours is fun, isn’t it? that is a great idea, having a 24h sourdoughs series, it could help busy people like you (and me actually). so you live in Sweden too? Good to get a feedback from a Swedish reader, you guys tend to be too quiet over here and please, don’t hesitate to send pictures of your loaves, I am considering creating a page to show the different versions I get to know of as time passes. ciao!

Absolutely! I refer to this recipe a lot for its great procedure. So I see it often. I have photos from the durum one I did in December when I followed it exactly that I’ll send – I love the idea of a photo page of various iterations, interpretations, and variants of your recipes

It sure is fun! I thought I’d share that 20% graham flour turns the bread into a brick. It did not rise well at all; gluten development was great even with just mixing, but the rise was way heavy. Next time I’ll play with just Siktat Dinkel, and it’ll be soon, next week most definitely.

But I’d love a series and would follow it closely! I’d love to test any of them out that fit a daily schedule like such! And it’d be a great help – nothing like having a steady supply of homemade bread rather than having rågkusar around, haha. Yes, I live in Stockholm but am originally from Los Angeles – and yes, I hear you, people are far too quiet, share very little about these kinds of things, it’d be so great with better food bloggers! Blogging about baking and cooking is always so helpful, it leads us all to better, healthier lifestyles, expands our creativity and, just as food has always done, ties us closer together as fellow human beings. I’m sure you, being from Italy, agree that it’s that important… My step grandma is Sicilian and her impression on me has brought me to have that view over the years, at least. Ciao!

I’ve tried this recipe a few days ago (the only differences were that I have used spelt flour instead of “all purpose flour” and that I have put some durum flower in the young leaven)
This recipe is extraordinary, thank you.
…I have post a link to your blog, here : https://www.facebook.com/groups/atelieredepaine/
I hope you won’t mind….
Thanks’ again for this great recipe,
Da